dcfandomcom-20200222-history
Selina Kyle (Earth-Two)
Real Name: Selina Kyle Wayne Nicknames: No known nicknames Former Aliases: The Cat; The Cat-Woman; Belinda; Elva Barr; Linda Page; Selina Kyle; Margarite Tone; Miss Pegg Other Current Aliases: Selina Wayne __TOC__ Status Occupation: Former pet-shop owner; former jewel thief and costumed criminal; reformed. Legal Status: Selina Kyle was a citizen of the United States with a criminal record. Identity: Secret Marital Status: Married Group Affiliation: No known group affiliation Base of Operations: Gotham City Origin Selina Kyle was born on the parallel world known as Earth-Two in the year 1920. By the time Selina was eighteen-years-old, she found herself trapped in an abusive marriage to a man who valued personal wealth and status over family. She eventually left her husband, and turned her aggression towards crime. In 1938 she donned a disguise and become a professional jewel thief known as the Cat. Brave and the Bold #197 Place of Birth: Place of birth unknown; (presumably Gotham City) Place of Death: Gotham City Known Relatives: Bruce Wayne (second husband, deceased); Helena Wayne (daughter, deceased); Martha Wayne (mother-in-law, deceased); Thomas Wayne (father-in-law, deceased); Karl Kyle (brother); Unnamed first husband (divorced) First Appearance: Batman #1 Final Appearance: DC Super-Stars #17 History In one of her earliest adventures, the Cat made a play to steal a valuable diamond necklace from a rich heiress named Martha Travers. Several criminal gangs likewise sought the necklace, and the theft earned them the attention of Batman and Robin. Robin was the first to learn about the mysterious Cat and revealed his findings to Batman. Batman encountered the disguised thief, whereupon she attempted to convince him to give up his heroic lifestyle and join her crew. Batman was unwilling to entertain such a notion, but found himself attracted to the seductive thief nonetheless. Even though he captured her, he "allowed" her to escape his clutches. Batman #1 A short time later, Batman encountered the Cat a second time; however, she had now adopted a feline costume, calling herself the Cat-Woman. Batman discovered her in the midst of a jewel robbery, but she distracted him by giving him key evidence regarding the whereabouts of a much deadlier adversary – the Joker. Although the Dynamic Duo gave pursuit, Catwoman managed to escape by diving into Gotham River. Batman #2 Later, an organization known as the Diamond Syndicate hired the Catwoman to steal a large quantity of diamonds. The theft was actually a front, enabling the Diamond Syndicate to collect on the insurance money. Batman and a Gotham City police detective named McGonigle investigated the case, but once again, the Catwoman managed to elude capture. Batman #3 Catwoman soon resurfaced, this time assuming the guise of wealthy socialite Margerite Tone. As Tone, Catwoman and her gang prompted a faux scavenger hunt, which turned out to be yet another scheme to steal precious valuables. Batman investigated the case, and captured the Catwoman, whereupon she kissed him. Once again, Batman found himself in an awkward position and allowed Catwoman to escape from captivity. Batman #10 Not long after this event, Catwoman met playboy millionaire Bruce Wayne. Unaware of Wayne's dual identity as the Batman, she ironically began to fall in love with him. Wayne was determined to bring Catwoman to justice, but unlike his other foes, Bruce believed that he could reform Catwoman. Disliking the idea of rehabilitation, Selina continued to conduct a crime spree, though ultimately Batman captured her – this time sending her to prison.Batman #15 Selina soon escaped confinement and embarked upon one of her most courageous schemes to date. Selecting Bruce Wayne as her next target, Selina adopted the identity of a socialite's maidservant, Belinda. She lured Wayne's butler, Alfred Beagle, into a trap – a trap that culminated in bringing Batman and Robin to her lair. She managed to capture the Dynamic Duo, and used their captivity as an opportunity to raid Wayne Manor. Batman and Robin managed to escape however, and using Alfred as a decoy, succeeded in apprehending the Catwoman.Batman #22 Never one to stay in prison for very long, Selina soon escaped and reformed her criminal gang. More villainous than ever, she accentuated the feline nature of her crimes, often using household cats to aid her in her criminal endeavors. She actually held more confidence in her cats than she did in her various henchmen. Not only did she pursue items of great monetary value, but she also expressed an obsessive desire for any object based upon the theme of a cat. After nearly a decade of daring adventures, Batman eventually put a stop to the Catwoman's crime-spree. In 1950, a brick struck Selina Kyle in the head re-awakening years of suppressed memories. Selina claimed to have suffered from partial amnesia for the past ten years, and attributed her criminal lifestyle as a side effect of the amnesia. With her "true memory" restored, Selina Kyle renounced her life as a criminal and revealed her secret identity to Batman. Batman learned years later, that Selina lied about her amnesia. She believed that the fabrication was the only way that Batman could truly love her.Batman #62 Working on the side of law and order, she assisted Batman and Robin in capturing a criminal known as Mister X. She later used the guise of Catwoman to apprehend a gangster named "Whale" Morton – a man who unsuccessfully attempted to lure Selina back into a life of crime. Shortly after this brief heroic stint, Selina hung up the cape and cowl for good, turning her costume and arsenal over to police commissioner James Gordon. As a civilian, Selina Kyle opened up her own pet shop in Gotham City. Batman #65 However, an unforeseen series of circumstances caused Selina to resume her past criminal lifestyle. Following a brief stint as a cat burglar, Selina reformed herself and swore to abandon the Catwoman identity once and for all. By 1955, Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne had resumed their romantic relationship, and in the summer of that year, the two were wed. Superman Family #211 Although Selina was retired from costumed adventuring, Bruce Wayne continued to function as Batman, and together they gave birth to a daughter, Helena Wayne. Helena would ultimately follow in the footsteps of her parents, and grew up to become a costumed adventurer known as the Huntress.All-Star Comics #66 By 1976, Selina's criminal past caught up with her. One of her former underlings, a henchman named "Silky" Cernak blackmailed Selina into resuming her Catwoman identity. He forced Selina's obedience by way of a falsified photograph which showed her murdering a Gotham City police officer. Cernak forced Catwoman to rob the Gotham City Civic Center. Commissioner James Gordon caught wind of the incident and contacted Batman for assistance. The aging crime-fighter arrived at the Civic Center and fought with Cernak's goons. Kicking a gun from an assailant's hand, the weapon went off, shooting Catwoman in the chest. The blow knocked Selina from a fourth floor mezzanine, where she subsequently fell to her doom. She died cradled in Batman's arms, claiming that "I did it all for you". DC Super-Stars #17 Shortly after her mother's death, Helena Wayne donned the costume of the Huntress and brought "Silky" Cernak to justice. Silky confessed to doctoring the photograph and Bruce and Helena learned that Selina Kyle had never murdered anyone in her life. Characteristics Height: 5'7" Weight: 120 lbs (54.43 kg) Eyes: Green Hair: Black Unusual Features: No unusual features Powers Known Powers: The Catwoman did not possess any superhuman abilities. Known Abilities: Catwoman was a professional burglar and a master of disguise. She was also an olympic level athlete, and a capable hand-to-hand combatant. Her abilities however, were nowhere in the scope of that of her rivals, Batman and Robin. Strength Level: In her prime, Selina possessed the strength level of a woman her age, size and weight who engaged in intensive regular exercise. Miscellaneous Equipment: The Catwoman carried a handbag filled with various cat-related devices. Such items included knock-out gas, special cat-nip, and other assorted crime-related tools. Transportation: Catwoman used to drive a cat-themed convertible Coupe sedan, which she named the "Kitty-Car". She also owned her own private Cat-Plane. Weapons: Catwoman occasionally carried a pistol, but rarely used it. Unlike her villainous contemporaries, Catwoman was diametrically opposed towards committing acts of murder. Predominently, she employed the use of a bullwhip, although her preferred weapon of choice was a diamond-tipped Cat o' Nine Tails. Notes * There is some discrepency over who actually created the character of Catwoman. Most sources attribute creation of the character to longtime Batman scribe, Bill Finger. However, artist Bob Kane claimed full credit for creating Catwoman in his autobiography Batman and Me. Bob Kane; Batman and Me; Eclipse Books; 1989 * The existence of this version of Catwoman is exclusive to the continuity of Earth-Two. With the collapse of the Multiverse during the Crisis on Infinite Earths event, the Earth-Two Catwoman was erased from known history. * The name of Catwoman's first husband has never been revealed. * Selina Kyle was active as the Cat for two years prior to her first appearance. Brave and the Bold #197 * Many of the time references in these stories are contended such as Helena's birth in 1957 which conflicts with her beginning as Huntress in 1976 which state happen after Helena finishes her law training, suggesting that she was at earliest 23 years old - :16 graduating high school early :20 graduating pre-law college :and attaining her JD at 23 :which indicates her Huntress career would not start until at least 1980 which is far too late in the storyline to have her do what she does in the printed stories as described. In fact by strict observation of the stated years Helena would only be 18 years old when she first adapts the Huntress identity. Thus Helena was born earlier than stated, in the early 1950s rather than the later portion of the decade. This is one of the reasons these types of exact time references were generally abandoned in later stories to prevent these types of time line conflicts. * While Catwoman of Earth-Two is ultimately shown NOT to have killed anyone during her criminal activities, it should be noted that MANY stories in the late 1960s and early 1970s featured Catwoman actually committing murder of several different people. :Most of these stories where Catwoman does commit murder are attributed to one of the other minor realities despite showing Catwoman in the same purple costume and the later black and red revealing costume, and not to be the primary realities of Earth-Two or Earth-One. Trivia * Although never seen, the Earth-Two Catwoman played a critical role in the failed WB television series, Birds of Prey. Prior to the pilot episode, Clayface (posing as the Joker) murdered Catwoman, leaving her infant daughter, Helena, an orphan. Helena grew up to adopt the identity of the Huntress and sought to avenge the death of her mother as her father watches from afar through his longtime aide Alfred who now directly supports the Birds in their protection of Gotham. It was not revealed in story why Wayne left Gotham to the Birds nor whatever happened to Robin either. * DC Direct released a seven inch statuette of the Golden Age Catwoman. * In some instances, Catwoman has been mistakenly colored with blonde hair. Batman #35 * Catwoman often used a variety of pet cats to aid her in her work. One of her most loyal felines, was a black cat named Hecate. Batman #42 A dimensional counterpart to Hecate also existed on Earth-One and belonged to the Earth-One variant of Catwoman. Recommended Readings * Batman * Brave and the Bold (Volume 1) * Detective Comics Related Articles * Batman (Earth-Two) * Earth-Two * Huntress (Helena Wayne) * Scarecrow See Also * Character Gallery: * Appearances of External Links * Catwoman article at Wikipedia References * Mike's Amazing World of DC Comics * Golden Age Batman Chronology * Golden Age Catwoman Chronology *Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #4 *Batman: Dark Knight Archives, Volume 1 (1992) *Batman: From the 30's to the 70's Footnotes ---- Category:Characters Category:American Category:Apocryphal Characters Category:Bad Characters Category:Black Hair Category:Deceased Characters Category:Divorced Characters Category:Female Characters Category:Golden-Age Characters Category:Good Characters Category:Green Eyes Category:Married Characters Category:Pre-Crisis Category:Reformed Criminals Category:Secret Identity Category:Earth-Two Characters